REM Council members Rodoljub Šabić, Mileva Malešević, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik and Dubravka Valić Nedeljković submitted their resignations from their positions at the office of the Parliament of Serbia.
Parliamentary The Committee for Culture and Information suspended the procedure for proposing a member of the Council on Thursday Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) proposed by the national minorities and invited four members who resigned – Rodoljub Šabić, Mileva Malešević, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik and Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, to take over positions in REM.
The Board also accepted that the newly formed composition of the REM Council should draw up a new Statute of the Council.
REM Council members Rodoljub Šabić, Mileva Malešević, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik and Dubravka Valić Nedeljković submitted their resignations from their positions at the office of the Serbian Parliament on December 19.
The board adopted the text prepared by the expert service that there are no legal obstacles for the four members to submit a statement that they accept the position, given that their resignations have not been verified in the Serbian Parliament.
The President of the Committee and MP of the Serbian Progressive Party, Nevena Đurić, suggested at the beginning of the session that the proceedings be suspended and said that the situation has come to the point where not only is there no elected member, but new elections for national councils of national minorities are approaching.
She said that she proposes to wait until the constitution of the new national councils with the election of the member proposed by the national minorities.
MP of the National Movement of Serbia, Ivana Rokvić, said that they agreed to suspend the proceedings, but not for the reasons given by the government, but because the process was deeply contaminated and full of various political pressures from the very beginning.
Ivana Rokvić stated that today is the 598th day that Serbia does not have an REM and that for so long Serbia has not had an authority to determine violations in electronic to the media and to regulate them.
“This whole situation in which we find ourselves is crying out for us to have a regulatory body,” said Ivana Rokvic.
She asked the Assembly to ask the four independent candidates to return and accept membership in the REM Council and for the Board today to withdraw its consent to the previous Statute of the REM Council and for the newly formed REM to draw up a new Statute.
Nevena Đurić said that she supports the proposal regarding the four candidates, because their resignations have not been verified, and that her proposal is for the Board’s office to prepare a text regarding the opposition’s proposal.
In that text, it is stated that there are no legal obstacles for the four members to submit a statement that they accept the position, given that their resignations have not been verified.
Green-Left Front MP Radomir Lazović said that the government at one point defends some decisions, and then retracts them due to justified criticism, adding that this proposal was initially bad.
He said that the persecution related to REM has been going on for two years, that the government is trying to take control of REM, but not to upset the European Union much and get money, and that this is a farce and a show for the EU.
Lazović said that REM cannot be a little independent, but either independent or not.
Nevena Đurić said that the process for selecting REM members has never been more transparent and inclusive, but that this item is on the agenda because the elections for the national councils of national minorities are coming up, and that after those elections, the ninth member proposed by the councils of national minorities can be elected.
Source: Vreme
